Identifying and tracking attributes of a package or other shipped product may be desirable. For example, the location in transit is generally identified when the product arrives or leaves certain checkpoints or locations where it is scanned and logged. Other attributes may be relevant to maintain the contents, such as temperature, humidity, time in transit, etc. These attributes are generally tracked by placing separate sensors on the package individually that must be known and read to verify the desired constraints imposed on these attributes. Therefore, traditional solutions for tracking and sensing packages are very expensive and bulky as they require the sensors to be attached to the shipping box itself. This causes them to be very prohibitive for use.
Even if only the location of the package is of interest, the tracking of a package is still generally manually intensive. For example, every package is labeled with a bar code or other identifier. The shipper must then use a handheld scanner at each transit location to identify the package. The scanner must be properly located and oriented relative to the package. The shipper usually manually enters other requested information about the package as well such as time stamps, identity of shipper, location, etc. This process may be overlooked for one or more packages, such that the package may not be reliably tracked throughout its journey.
Tracking location and other desired relevant information for a package generally uses approaches that are very bulky, costly and require professional special instrumentation for use.